Lou Diamond Phillips has been adopted by a Sioux family in a traditional Indian ceremony that honored him as a role model in encouraging young people to better themselves.
The actor, who is part Cherokee, was given the name Starkeeper. The 30-minute ceremony was conducted Sunday in Porcupine, a hamlet on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota.Sioux Indians planned a ceremony in the spring, but it had to be postponed when Phillips suffered complications from a tonsillectomy and then had movie commitments. Phillips played a Mexican-Indian in the two "Young Guns" movies.
Stephan Red Bow, 70, said the name Starkeeper was chosen because Phillips is a movie star. Phillips was adopted into the Red Bow family and into the larger extended family, Red Bow said.